Quickstart: wire your first MCP server in 60 seconds

This guide walks you through installing the filesystem MCP server into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor. The same flow works for any server — swap out the config and pick your targets.

Step 1 — Find a server config

Every MCP server ships with a config snippet in its README. For this example we'll use the official filesystem server. Copy this JSON:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/tmp"]
    }
  }
}

This tells Claude Desktop (and other tools using the same format) to launch the filesystem server with npx, giving it access to /tmp. You can add more paths to the args array later.

Step 2 — Run MCPBolt

npx mcpbolt

You'll see the paste prompt:

  mcpbolt ⚡ — wire MCP servers into any AI coding tool

  Paste config below. Press Enter twice (or Ctrl+D) when done:

  >

Step 3 — Paste the config

Paste the JSON you copied in Step 1, then press Enter twice (or Ctrl+D). MCPBolt auto-detects the format and extracts the server name:

  Detected
    Format: JSON (Claude Desktop / VS Code / Cursor / Zed)
    Servers: 1 — filesystem

Step 4 — Pick your targets

MCPBolt scans your machine for installed AI tools and pre-checks the ones it finds. Use Space to toggle each target, Enter to confirm:

✔ Server name › filesystem
✔ Select targets › Claude Desktop, Claude Code (global), Cursor (global)
💡
Tip. MCPBolt only shows tools it detects on your machine. If an app is missing from the list, it was not found at the expected install path. See Supported apps for the paths each tool uses.

Step 5 — Preview the changes

MCPBolt shows exactly what it will write before touching anything:

✔ Preview changes before writing? › Yes

  Preview
    Claude Desktop (user)  → ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
    Claude Code (user)     → ~/.claude.json
    Cursor (user)          → ~/.cursor/mcp.json

The preview shows which file each target writes to. No files are modified at this step.

Step 6 — Write

✔ Write files now? › Yes

  ✓ Wired "filesystem" into 3 targets.

  → Quit and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new server.
  → Open Cursor → Settings → MCP and click Refresh to activate.

MCPBolt merges the new server entry into each config file without touching any other keys. A .bak backup is written alongside each modified file.

Step 7 — Restart your tools

Most tools need a restart to pick up config changes:

  • Claude Desktop — Quit and reopen the app.
  • Claude Code — Reads config on each invocation; no restart needed.
  • Cursor — Open Settings → MCP and click Refresh.
  • VS Code — Run Developer: Reload Window (Cmd+Shift+P).

What's next

From here you can:

  • Paste a different format — shell command, TOML, YAML, bare URL. See Config formats.
  • Use the menu bar app for a GUI view of all your servers with live health status. See Menu bar tour.
  • Manage per-repo server configs without touching global files. See Projects tab.
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